The Battle of the Somme

On the 1 July, 1916, 20,000 British troops lost their lives during the first day of the Somme. Artillery had barraged the German lines for seven days, but the Germans were heavily dug in and many shells failed to explode due to the wet ground. The bombardment signalled to the Germans that the British were coming, so once it had finished they emerged from their fortifications ready to face, and destroy, the enemy offensive.

But the Battle of the Somme was far more than just the 1 July 1916. The four and a half month battle raged on until November 1916 and saw the introduction of the Tank, the creeping barrage and the development of air power. Published as a short work just a year after the battle, John Buchan’s account of the first two phases of the Battle of the Somme, one of bloodiest battles of the Great War, leap off the page a century on.

Buchan goes beyond the first day of the Somme to provide a valuable account of the extended battle and the strategy used. He describes the manoeuvres and the generals wh